Georgia’s latest license plate offering has a Confederate flag theme that has sparked criticism from civil-rights groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and praise from the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), the organization that sponsored the plate. The design is one of many available in Georgia.

The state’s Department of Revenue began issuing the plates this month. A department spokesman said the plates are not new, but were redesigned as part of the state’s transition to digital plates from the traditional stamped-metal design. He said the state has offered SCV plates since the early 2000s. The latest version was approved Feb. 1, he said.

New or not, the plates have irritated a number of people and sparked debate.

“This is a sad day for the state of Georgia and for America,” said Charles Steele Jr., president of the SCLC. He said African-Americans often view the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of oppression and interpret its display as an act of hostility.

In a statement Tim Pilgrim, the division adjutant for the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans, called the redesigned plate “the most attractive license tag that the State of Georgia has to offer” and encouraged “members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and all citizens of Georgia” to order the new design when renewing their license plates.

The Revenue Department spokesman said the agency has issued 10,605 of the plates since 2003, including 439 between 2012 and 2013, and has received orders for 35 so far this year. The initial cost to purchase the plate $80, with a fee of $55 annually to renew. The SCV gets $10 of the fee.

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